Easy moneyAlways flip your first house to get enough money to pay for materials, etc. For later levels, the following sequence usually works.

Build a sawmill.

Spend $75,000 on materials.

Build a workshop.

Build a bank and set it to donate.

Hire a worker if needed and build the most expensive house you can afford.

Upgrade the house to two stars if Rambler and mansion, and four stars for everything else if you can afford it. Do not sell anything at three stars.

Flip the house.

Buy materials at the cheapest bulk rate.

Hire workers and build the most expensive houses you can afford

Upgrade those houses to four stars if you want to keep them. Set the rent is proportional to the money you spend on it by percentage.

Level selectCreate a backup copy of the file before proceeding. Use a text editor to edit the "buildalot.ini" file in the game directory. Find your profile name in the file. The values that need to be changed are after the "[User 0]" heading and before the "[User 1]" heading. Look for the "LevelStatus" value. A "0" indicates you have not played it yet. A "2" indicates that you have passed that level. A "3" indicates that you have completed it expertly. Change all of those values to "3". Next, change all the values of "LevelNumPlays" to "1". Change all the "CityGift" values to "1". Change all the "CasualLevelStatus" values to "1". Save the file and start the game. You can now access all levels.